Ferrari admits clear SF-26 ‘deficit’ after Lewis Hamilton spots ‘huge’ Mercedes ‘step’
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur were reunited at Ferrari in 2025 almost two decades after the British driver's title-winning GP2 season
Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, says the team is aware that it must address its “deficit of performance” in a straight line with the SF-26 car.
It comes ahead of the Scuderia’s filming day at Monza, the home of the Italian Grand Prix and arguably the most demanding circuit on the F1 2026 calendar in terms of energy management, next week.
Fred Vasseur agrees with Lewis Hamilton over key Ferrari SF-26 ‘deficit’
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Ferrari has enjoyed a promising start to the new season, finishing on the podium at each of the opening three races of F1 2026.
Charles Leclerc came home third in Australia and Japan, with teammate Lewis Hamilton matching the result by claiming his first podium for Ferrari in China.
Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari head-to-head stats for F1 2026 season
F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates
F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates
Hamilton revealed ahead of the Shanghai race that Ferrari’s straight-line speed is lacking compared to the dominant Mercedes team.
The seven-time world champion commented that Mercedes takes “a huge step” on the straights, with Ferrari’s rivals having “a little bit more deployment” and “less de-rating at the end of the straights.”
Hamilton added that Ferrari must “work on trying to see how we can eke more from our engine.”
Vasseur has agreed with Hamilton’s assessment that straight-line performance is a weakness of the SF-26, with Ferrari aware that “we have to work on it.”
The Ferrari team principal also revealed that the new overtake mode – which gives drivers an extra 0.5 megajoules of energy when within a second of the car ahead at certain parts of the track – has become a powerful tool in F1 2026, with the drivers unable to keep up when out of range.
He said: “What is clear this season is that as soon as you are not anymore in the overtake mode, you are losing a little bit the pass and you have this situation of a ‘train’ on track.
“When we lost the one-second gap on the car ahead [in Japan], it was a bit more difficult.
“We know that we have a deficit of performance in the straight line and that we have to work on it, but it is like it is.”
As reported by PlanetF1.com earlier this month, Ferrari will travel to Monza for a filming day next Wednesday (April 22) ahead of the resumption of the F1 2026 season in Miami next month.
Unlike most teams, the Scuderia is yet to use any of its two permitted filming days for 2026, leaving the Italian outfit with a shortage of promotional content for its commercial partners.
PlanetF1.com understands that Ferrari’s current offering remains limited to material from the launch of the SF-26 car in January.
The choice of Monza – often referred to as the ‘Temple of Speed’ – for Ferrari’s filming day is unlikely to be a coincidence given the high-speed nature of the circuit and its significant demands in terms of energy management.
The 200 kilometres of private running at Monza is set to offer Ferrari the opportunity to further optimise its F1 2026 engine.
It remains to be seen whether Ferrari will qualify for the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities scheme, launched by the governing body last year to help struggling F1 2026 engine manufacturers catch up.
A decision on the manufacturers in line to qualify for ADUO was expected to be made after the sixth race of the F1 2026 season, which was originally scheduled to take place in Miami.
Following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, however, Miami will now be the fourth race of the season with Monaco instead hosting the sixth round on June 7.
PlanetF1.com understands that it is yet to be decided whether the original May date for the first ADUO checkpoint will remain in place.
Honda, Aston Martin’s engine partner, is widely expected to benefit from the ADUO system having struggled with severe vibrations since the start of 2026.
Prior to his Audi F1 exit last month, meanwhile, Jonathan Wheatley hinted that the German manufacturer could also meet the criteria for ADUO.
Wheatley hinted that there is a preference among manufacturers to keep the original May ADUO deadline, pointing out that nobody “wants to lose a month” of development time with a delay until Monaco.
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